French Formula 4 has dropped its visit to the Hungaroring from this year’s calendar and replaced it with a round at Zandvoort instead.
The races at the Hungaroring were scheduled to take place on September 26/27, but the FFSA Academy has announced the series will now support the Formula Renault Eurocup in the Netherlands on the same weekend instead.
A pre-event test has also been announced to take place on August 18/19 ahead of that weekend’s Nogaro season opener, which will be the first races for the centrally-run series with its new turbocharged Renault engine that is expected to improve laptimes.
“It’s a whole system to put in place,” French F4’s head of sport Amaury Richard said of running events around strict coronavirus restrictions.
“However, as the French F4 Championship is managed entirely by the FFSA Academy, we are confident that it will run smoothly despite the situation, thanks to the measures we are going to put in place.
“Despite the fears arising from the shutdown, the vast majority of the drivers entered at the start of the season have confirmed their presence in 2020.”
Germany has extended its ban on mass gatherings until at least the end of summer amid a rise in COVID-19 infections, which is could put the start of the ADAC F4 season at risk. There are two rounds set to run in August that now look under threat, and another two in September, should the associated race meetings be affected by the restrictions.
2020 French Formula 4 calendar
| Round | Circuit | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nogaro, France | August 22/23 |
| 2 | Magny-Cours, France | September 12/13 |
| 3 | Zandvoort, Netherlands | September 26/27 |
| 4 | Paul Ricard, France | October 3/4 |
| 5 | Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium | October 17/18 |
| 6 | Ledenon, France | November 7/8 |
| 7 | Le Mans, France | November 14/15 |